Get Full Essay

How Desai Vividly Portrays a Childs Disappointment in Either Games at Twilight or Pineapple Cake Essay Sample

In the story ‘Pineapple Cake’ Desai vividly portrays Victor’s disappointment by using selective vocabulary, repetition and metaphors. The effect of her writing gives us the impression of a child who is disappointed in many things, not just the loss of a slice of pineapple cake, like the lack of affection from his mother and his unwanted role in the family.

From the very beginning of the story, we are told that Victor’s mother wanted a girl, not a boy. He was a mistake dressed in a “frilled shirt and purple velvet shorts”. This made him a very “nervous” child. Consequently, his mother coaxed him through life by making promises. However, “Victor hadn’t much faith in his mother’s promises.” Desai conveys Victor’s previous disappointments in his mother and it is obvious he has been let down before. Whatever faith he has left, is minimized by the use of the phrase, “hadn’t much”.

The way Victor acts shows that he does not feel comfortable or free in his family. “He felt he was being shoved out”. This is reflected by his mother’s actions, who displays that she does not trust Victor. She keeps a grip on him, “by holding him by the arm.” His inability to roam free or be trusted contributes to his general disappointment, and Desai shows us the coldness of his mother’s actions towards him by having her hold his “arm” as apposed to his ‘hand’. There is little love or warmth between them.

In addition, Desai uses the metaphor of Victor’s mother, “digging him in the ribs”. The word “digging” suggests that she is creating holes, or taking him apart piece by piece. I believe it is his confidence that she is attempting to disassemble with this metaphor.

Ultimately, it is the repetition of the promise, “pineapple cake for you”, that sets Victor up for his major disappointment. This disappointment is that even though amazingly this one time the promise was kept, “Take it, take the pineapple cake,” Victor realized it was not the cake he craved, but rather the love and affection that every child needs. After seeing someone die, the last thing Victor needed was cake. However, rather than be supportive toward him, Victor has to, “pull away” from his mother and make “a hesitant move towards the balcony”. His ‘hesitancy’ conveys his uncertainty of his mother’s feelings, will she care for him and comfort him, or will she be impatient and angry?

As Victor gathers his thoughts and, “stares down at the pastry as if it were the corpse”, his mother confirmed his fears of neglect and, “ate [the cake]…quickly.” Even though he is in deep emotional trauma, his mother still has the audacity to break her one promise in front of his own eyes. This act fulfils Victor’s disappointment.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

In David Pelzer's A Child Called It and A Lost Boy you found yourself engaged in an emotional roller coaster. These books were not only about David's story but about how he managed to survive his abusive mother and find himself while in foster care. Not only do you find yourself totally enthralled with these books you also began to become emotionally involved as well....

In David Pelzer's A Child Called It and A Lost Boy you found yourself engaged in an emotional roller coaster. These books were not only about David's story but about how he managed to survive his abusive mother and find himself while in foster care. Not only do you find yourself totally enthralled with these books you also began to become emotionally involved as well....

Well-being has been a topic of growing interest in recent years, however Thomas (2009, cited in Dodge, et al., 2012, p. 222) found that well-being is ‘intangible, difficult to define and even harder to measure’. The term has multiple meanings and definitions in relation to different concepts, leading Seedhouse (1995) to determine that an overall concept of well-being would be an empty notion (Manning-Morton, 2014)....

Jean Piaget's (1936) theory of cognitive development is based on his belief that children are active learners and cognitive development is a process taught through interaction with the environment, intelligence was believed to be a fixed trait and that children were simply less intelligent than adults. McLeod, S (2009). McLeod (2009) says that instead of measuring children's ability to solve problems, count and spell to...

There is multiple legislation governing health, safety and risk management in residential childcare settings. This legislation specifies roles and responsibilities of all people and services that are involved in a child care. The aim of these regulations is to minimise harm and danger by managing potential hazards and risks. Whatever sort of working or living environment one can be in, there is always the possibility...

At Bla-Bla-Writing.com you will find a wide variety of top-notch essay and term paper samples on any possible topics absolutely for free. Want to add some juice to your work? No problem! Here you will also find the best quotations, synonyms and word definitions to make your research paper well-formatted and your essay highly evaluated.